Truly shocking news: rather than user school-issued laptops for educational purposes, high school kids instead used them for instant messaging, Web browsing and porn immersion. Say it ain’t so. So school districts around the country, which were convinced that giving kids laptops would, I don’t know, make them smarter, are scuttling in-school laptop programs, making kids learn the old fashioned way, with books and pencils.
The best thing is that, in numerous comparisons between schools with laptops and schools without, schools with laptops saw no test score improvement, since test scores are how you measure smartitude these days. But what I’d like to know is what the school districts expected these kids to do with the laptops. Learn? Hah! How many hours per day does the average cubicle-dwelling worker bee spend goofing off on the computer? I remember back in high school we were more concerned with trying to get around the Websense filtering system than researching whatever busywork assignment we were given.
Bottom line, laptops don’t improve education by their mere presence alone. But let’s keep throwing money at schools, that’ll solve the problem.
Another thing—what’s with kids and ironic t-shirts? “I’m a drinker not a fighter.” Kid, you’re a dork.
Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops [New York Times via Techdirt]
I think expecting test scores to improve by giving them laptops isn’t the right idea. As you mentioned, you spent time working around the websense filter…that’s way more useful knowledge than the capital of whateverstan. They’ll start with porn, but they’ll end up researching things they’re interested in…which will eventually lead them to a career (hey, that’s what I did, I’m running on 100% first hand anecdotal evidence here).
You are so right… that laptops alone change nothing. Well, that’s not totally true, hence this topic of discussion. But, they don’t change those things that we would like to change in schooling, namely better learning, more relevant learning, and the ability to teach and learn in fresh and truly innovative ways. A tool is only used in ways that the tool weilder has learned (or not learned) to use it. And, of course, a tool can be misused and used destructively. Give a toddler a hammer and just watch what happens (don’t really try this… as we should know better, right???). But, we give kids laptops and say “go learn”.
I truly believe that they are powerful tools for both teaching and learning, but they require skill, knowledge, and training. In most technology budgets, that is what gets cut for teachers. It is not really all their fault. Most of the time, much of these technology iniatives were not their idea, are not in their control, and they are not supported as they need to be.
Wake up, administrators!!!!
Well guys, I attend Liverpool High School and I know the kid pictured with the “I’m a drinker not a fighter” shirt. Bottom-line, I just wanted to say you guys are all retards; he has not yet been suspended and probably won’t because action was not taken against him during that day he had the shirt on. Dealing with the laptops, its not the kids fault these days so much as it is the administrators. Our laptops are basically locked solid: we cannot install programs, some of which are for school classes. But yet as always, never give someone a locked laptop and think that after a couple days of twerking with it that they won’t find a way around it. We’re clever and make use of the inability for admins to lock the system32 folder, because it has explorer.exe in it, and so we install programs through there. Even so, why not just give us our own account on the laptop and one you can only access at school, wouldn’t that make more sense?
Thomas,
I guess you have not taken that laptop course on the art of communication, have you? I suggest you look up the meaning of “retard” in the dictionary (it’s that thing on the shelf gathering dust that you learned how to use a few years ago). I am sure you can find one on line with your laptop, too. Adults would probably listen to you more if you communicated effectively with them, as you do have some valid points.
weeeeeeeeeeeee